Sonar devices that transmit sound waves have been used previously to obtain information about underwater articles, including fish, structures and obstructions, and the bottom. The sound waves travel from a transducer mounted to a bottom surface of the vessel through the water. The sound wave transmits from the sonar devices in diverging patterns. The sound waves contact underwater articles, which create return echoes. The transducer receives the return echoes and the sonar device analyzes the received echoes. A display device displays representations of the received echoes, for locating fish and other underwater articles.
Embodiments of the present invention represent an advancement over the current state of the art with respect to sonar imaging systems. Certain advantages of the invention, as well as various inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.
Conventional “search light” rotating sonar systems use a conical beam configuration to find schools of fish in the water column. Such systems tend to provide a large “footprint” of the bottom of a given body of water. This large footprint results in sonar images that lack detail and may be difficult to read, especially for inexperienced users.